Voodoo Music Experience 2012 – A Preview

New Orleans will always be considered one of the world’s most important musical cities, one of the jazz capitals, the birthplace of many spring break stories and, for the 13th time, the home of one of the most important music festivals around: the Voodoo Music Experience.

Being this writer’s first international festival in a foreign country, the line-up is as diverse and attractive as one might hope for as a first-timer: the classic rock from one of the last living Woodstock-era legends, Neil Young; the trash metal from one of the Big Four, Metallica; the genius from a musician considered the best of his generation, Jack White; beats from the dubstep king, Skrillex; both a revival and new take on the old ways of blues though the hands of Gary Clark Jr.; a taste of the most heartbreaking folk and bluegrass music today by The Avett Brothers. All of those artists and many more through 3 whole days of a Louisiana style weekend are what makes this year’s ritual one of the most expected festivals of the season.

More than a half a hundred artists from all kinds of genres on five different stages will display talent from dusk till dawn. With the glorious diversity the city has to offer at night in between line-ups and the multicultural blending the area has always been famous for, this festival is the swan song of huge events this year. The tastes, the colors, the sounds, the people, the experience of a Halloween in Louisiana and the tales of past editions of this festival make it as attractive as it can be.